Abstract

The main focus of this research was on sexually abused individuals’ experiences
and their perceptions of the benefits and shortcomings of pastoral care, including their
experiences of raising faith-related issues in psychotherapy. Our interest was upon sexual
abuse that occurred outside religious congregations, that is, that was not perpetrated by a
minister or a representative of the Church. Interviews were conducted with seven women and
one man, and transcripts were analyzed according to inductive thematic analysis. The informants
described their struggle to get help, their difficulty in raising the topic of sexual abuse in
pastoral care, their need to be recognized, their feelings of ambiguity, and their sometimes
contradictory needs. They described their struggles with faith, their need to express their
doubts, and their wish not to be rushed toward forgiveness. It was important to the informants
that pastoral caregivers be aware of their therapeutic limits and be willing to refer them to
another helper if necessary. They also described feeling misunderstood from a faith perspective
in psychotherapy and wished psychotherapists would gain a deeper understanding about the
faith implications of sexual abuse.